Outside Of Life
by Skye Harvey
Summary: In a post-apocalyptic world, Waverly wants to join the Outsiders - a team of brave people tasked with finding provisions for the city, and the cure. Luckily for the youngest Earp, General Haught lets her on the team but when you're facing the zombie world armed with a shotgun and glowsticks, who knows what could happen.
1. Chp 1 - The Wall

p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The wall didn't look so big from the watchtower. Waverly smiled to herself; maybe Champ wasn't too bad after all./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""It's cool, right?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Waverly turned around to see Champ, gun in hand, grinning at her. She smiled back and nodded. "I suppose so. It's not the prettiest thing I've ever seen though. Maybe we could all draw something on it, y'know? Make it into a nice part of the city rather than reminding us what's out there."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Champ laughed and put his hand on her shoulder, something she was only half-surprised about. "That's a great idea," he said, leaning in closer from behind. "But I think you're probably the prettiest thing in this city."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Waverly took a sharp breath and looked at her wrist. There wasn't a watch there. "Dammit," she muttered to herself./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What is it?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Uh, I said I'd meet Wynonna as soon as the Outsiders came back."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh, right. I'll see you later at Shorty's though, yeah?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Waverly half-smiled and waved him goodbye as she climbed down the rungs of the ladder, two at a time. Champ was a nice guy, sure, but he seemed to be everywhere she went and working in the bar wasn't helping. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"At the bottom of the watchtower, a couple of the guards nodded to her as she made her way over to Outsider headquarters where Wynonna would be waiting for her. In all fairness, she hadn't actually lied to Champ, but she still felt bad for finding an excuse to get away from him./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"At the main gate to the headquarters building, there were four guards. Three of them Waverly didn't recognise but that wasn't unusual with a high death rate outside the walls. The Corporal though, she did recognise. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hey, Perry!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The Corporal nodded at her, letting his gun slide out of his hands so he could hug her. "How've you been? You waiting for Wynonna again?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh, you know; same as usual. I always wait for Wynonna, Per, I like to know she's home safe. You know that."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah, I know. Do you ever think about what you could do though?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Waverly raised an eyebrow at the Corporal, not quite sure what to make of his comment./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Wait, that didn't come out right. What I mean is, don't you get bored of working at Shorty's? You could do so much more, Waverly."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Awh, thanks Per," she said, leaving him a peck on the cheek as she went into the building. "I'll be sure to think about that later when I'm throwing you out the bar for being too loud!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The Corporal felt himself begin to blush as he adjusted his gun and stared into the distance, hoping that no-one would notice his reddening cheeks in the evening sun./span/p 


	2. Chp 2 - Fudge Nuggets

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0dd9f95c67d95ee0522fdecef1a9c1bd"Waverly walked through various corridors and up a couple of staircases before she got to the main meeting room of the Outsiders. Inside was a large concrete block covered in etchings, probably of the outside. The walls had bits of equipment hanging from them like guns, axes and rope, though her favourite was one in the far corner which looked suspiciously like a flamethrower./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8a98ef6b5bd764542bac347b58090ee3""There you are, baby girl!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="73dcc1a9dcd4665a371835e06d8706f9"Wynonna burst through a door on the other side of the room and pulled her in for a big hug, which immediately got Waverly worried./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="960fa0f82ecd836f571ddbda2938974e""What happened?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ff7eb9a6d3f4b37643e31e46ce3c7a09""What do you mean?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="994111c9ed9f1f87cb1a58a2c46a2e75""Outside the wall, Wynonna, what happened?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6499e45e8cd0b3e971ed18630d19785e"With her hands on her hips, Waverly knew her sister wouldn't be able to keep the truth hidden for long. The elder Earp was physically holding back, biting her lip and looking to the floor to avoid Waverly's gaze./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ac475c1c074d14cae5c7a6f0c38b0693""It was Lonnie," a tall, dark figure said from the corner of the room. "Lonnie led a diversion to save our lives and now he is gone. Wynonna believes herself to be at fault when indeed we all are." The figure moved into the fading evening light and removed his hat./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5295dfef026cc334502c379f7d8f282d"Waverly gasped as she saw tears brimming in Doc Holliday's eyes./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="dcc0d2507983c123b6ba1eb2b1690af4""Oh fudge nuggets," she said, pulling Wynonna in close for another hug that her sister probably didn't appreciate, but definitely needed. "Is there anything I can do? I can make sandwiches?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="69b33cb4ca4955f143f5af5911ec844a"Doc smiled a little and put his hat back on. "That won't be needed, Waverly. Lonnie's body is outside the wall and he had no family to return to. I do believe he was alone in this world."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="edaad8901abb41adba120b3246b1f119""You're wrong," Wynonna mumbled, her head in Waverly's shoulder. "He had us. We were his family."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8a852b80fd4db170e5fb30155f13e1c0""That being said," another voice interrupted their conversation, but it was smooth and broody, almost like you could hear the grief in their voice. "We now have a gap in our team."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c58c416eefd7dc30637ca3ea14286a20""You can't seriously be thinking of that already Dolls?" Wynonna wiped her eyes on her sleeve and looked him straight in the eye./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9190d4ef49a86894c4d5302427e7eab1""I am, Earp. The Outsiders are the only chance this city has of staying alive and I can't afford to risk that by being a man down. We need to fill his spot asap."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9b66387960c541fb6a22b704aaf41c62"Doc nodded his approval, much to Wynonna's annoyance. "Dolls is right, Wynonna. I shall find a few folks who are willing and send them over to see Miss Haught."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a2b434c4436e23f05d2f0a2a53d19f3f""That's actually not a completely terrible idea, Doc." Dolls half-smiled to the heavily moustached man to his right before looking back at Wynonna./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="7d094a52b59cd0c3048ee15175de9b0d""If you need to take a minute to process, then take the evening off and go to Shorty's. Doc and I can handle finding a new recruit."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="99f4f0fcfd2dc1c80cc7242834e5849a""Pfft, yeah right. Another testosterone-filled adrenaline junkie to add to the team. I can't wait. Let's go baby girl," the elder Earp said, pulling Waverly by the arm and leading her out of the room./p 


	3. Chp 3 - The Sergeant

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="06f8021c7abc44e0522f05596dd01358"As they walked past various rooms of the Outsider headquarters, Waverly couldn't help thinking that maybe she could fill the gap in the team. Wynonna would never allow it, they were the only family they had left, but then again, the Dolls and Doc always seemed to have Wynonna's back. Wasn't that what families did? Plus, if it meant she got to use the flamethrower, then it had to be worth the risk, right?/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9acf6c6c9327a9b18c1c38b9604a7513""Dammit!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c63ee73755e44a5e54dcd87718cd3ab9"Waverly stopped walking and looked at her sister. The elder Earp had managed to walk into one of the Corporals face-first./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6b9b98bddcdc2f0987cb1f6508753763""You really need to look where you're going, Wynonna," the Corporal said, almost laughing./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="fd61fa22697b5dfbe7aac41335fb85a9"Waverly looked the figure up and down and then realised that they weren't a captain at all, but a general, like Dolls. "Sorry Sergeant," she mumbled, pulling at Wynonna's arm./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="96b81aaf089b4edc9e147e1d26295073""Waves? Where are you going?" The elder Earp held on tight to her sister, not letting her move more than a few steps away. "This is Sergeant Haught. She's half in-charge of our team."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="026ca3456ea3bbcecaf761cc009f3dfa"Waverly took a couple of steps back and looked at the Sergeant again. It was only then that she saw a beaming smile with perfect white teeth and glowing red hair peeking from beneath her cap./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1d5c7a7783e7f1d1836e5235e46b813b""And you," the Sergeant said, her eyes wide. "Must be Waverly Earp." She held out a hand for Waverly to shake but the younger Earp found herself rooted to the spot./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3b9f8a3f5b1a40b379a2160393af0372""Ok..." Wynonna said slowly. "Well unless you're going to recruit my sister for our team, Haught, I think we'll be heading to Shorty's. See ya!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="937cc04b0992286d52dc7836427365d7""Wait, Wynonna," Waverly mumbled. "I was just thinking about joining actually."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="fac9d081769efd5f4e4fdccd3c9ece86""What? No, you weren't. You can't have been; it's crazy."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d1bd410c8f5af270ac981a2872d25892""No, I'm serious. I'd be good, I know it. I'm super bendy so small spaces aren't a thing. I speak four languages, fluently, and I was once hit by a tranquiliser dart and still went to band practice."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5c7c775eac7d902318d19738869bf496"Wynonna slowly nodded her head and shrugged her shoulders at the Sergeant. "She's right, unfortunately."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="90ae84c91fdd5ff2786174575c971996"The younger Earp beamed first at her sister and then at the Sergeant who seemed to be both confused and thrilled at the same time./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3eceb6702aaf64d4ec83210aeed1d6ae""I'd have to talk to Sergeant Dolls first," the redhead said slowly, looking at Wynonna almost like she was asking for approval. The elder Earp rolled her eyes and nodded./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="12f81e6637eac18655f43c333b211db1"Waverly squealed and brought her hands up to her mouth. "So is that a yes?" Her voice was muffled, but audible./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="24370be04783786b5837239ae7daa270"The Sergeant shrugged; "I suppose so. I don't see why Dolls would have a reason to say no to you, especially if you're actually well equipped for the job."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="97bad73a9b7b23c92aea8e17431fffaf""Do I get a badge? A code name? Oh my god, a flamethrower?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6aa6043908ed26b16838df44c2c00470"Wynonna shook her head and started to lead Waverly away from the Sergeant. "Thanks, Haught. Now you're going to have to deal with cheerleading slang, random latin outbursts and constant lyric quoting. I'll be at Shorty's if you need me!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6d3164c64df66454ac6bb414c0ad9cf8"The Sergeant smiled as she waved goodbye to the Earps. "I can't wait."/p 


	4. Chap 4 - Glow Sticks

"Where did you guys find all this stuff? It wasn't all in the bunker, was it?" Waverly gazed at the array of tech sat on the concrete block in front of her. There were walkie-talkies, ropes of various lengths, hiking bags, backpacks, grappling hooks, different shapes and sizes of tools, and even a small pile of glow sticks. "I mean glow sticks, guys, really? Where on earth did you find glow sticks?!"

Wynonna put a hand on her sister's shoulder and passed her a rucksack. "There's a lot more of this out there, baby girl, which is why we do it."

"And to find a cure," Sergeant Dolls said, loading a fresh mag into his pistol. "The cure is our top priority but supplies like tinned food or weapons are always useful."

"Do not forget, Dolls, that we are also on the lookout for any poor souls left behind; the type of folk that could be needing our help."

"Hurray, we all have something heroic to say," Wynonna said, barging between Doc and Dolls to grab a pair of walkie-talkies. "Now can we get a move on 'cause I want to be back before dinner and I'm already hungry."

"What they're trying to say," Sergeant Haught took a step towards Waverly, handing her a shotgun. "Is that everything we do as an Outsider is important, and partly what keeps everyone inside the wall alive."

Waverly nodded slowly, taking the shotgun and loading it. "I get it, really I do. I'm just excited to be doing something other than being at Shorty's. Don't get me wrong, I love working there, but I also want to do something meaningful. Something that helps."

"Serving whiskey helps me, baby girl, but I get it," Wynonna handed her a walkie-talkie and grinned. "You know how to use one of these, yeah?"

The younger Earp nodded. "I think I remember." She pressed a button on the side and rambled on in Latin, surprising both Doc and Dolls at the same time. "That was Latin for I'm totally amazeballs."

"Atta girl, angel pants," Wynnona said into her walkie-talkie, heading out of the door with her backpack rammed full of kit, though the odd clunk sounded more like a bottle of whiskey than a bottle of water.

"See you around, bacon donut," Waverly laughed and finished putting some rope into her own backpack before heading out of the door after her sister.

"Hey, Waverly?"

The younger Earp put her head around the door at Sergeant Haught. "Yeah?"

"Try not to worry about her. Wynonna, I mean. She seems reckless out there but she knows what she's doing, even if it doesn't look like it at the time."

"Ok, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Sergeant."

"Oh and Waverly?"

The Earp girl put her head around the door again, still beaming with excitement.

"Call me Nicole ok? We're all equals on this team; my badge means nothing outside of the city."

Waverly nodded slowly and gazed at the Sergeant's cap pin. The tiny blue cross carried so much meaning and respect within the walls but, thinking about it, why would zombies take note of a hat pin? "Makes sense," she said. "See you at the wall, Nicole." She dragged out the Sergeant's name, almost playing with the sound of it. Then, just for a moment, she thought she saw the Sergeant blush a little.

"Yeah, see you at the wall," Nicole said, packing even more kit into a hiking bag no smaller than Waverly herself.


	5. Chp 5 - Vanilla-Dipped Donuts

Dolls took everyone's gun in turn and checked it was loaded, working and on safety mode. Doc then did the same but with everyone's rope. It was starting to sink in that what she was about to do was serious and could end in an unfortunate incident.

"You'll be ok, Waves," Wynonna said, taking out her food rations. "We're only going a few miles out today so it'll be kinda safe, or at least safe enough that we won't die." Wynonna paused for a moment as she looked up and down the wall in front of them. "Probably."

Waverly gulped and she tried to recall what she had in her own backpack. There was her walkie-talkie, a small pistol with its bullets separate so she didn't shoot herself in the back by accident. There were a couple of packets of boil-in-a-bag food and a bit of rope as well. Deciding it was better to double check than worry, she took off the backpack and rummaged through it.

"Is that supposed to resemble a pizza?"

Waverly looked up at her sister. Wynonna was looking in disgust at Ser-Nicole. The younger Earp turned her head to see what her sister was talking about and, sure enough, there was a weird pizza-ish type thing in Nicole's hands.

"Yeah," the redhead said, grimacing. "It gets worse - it's gluten-free."

Wynonna held a hand to her mouth, almost in shock. "How could you, Haught?"

"Unlike you, I can't survive on donuts and whiskey."

The elder Earp laughed and put her backpack back on, as did Waverly. "You'll wish you had the vacuum-packed donuts when we're four hours into our trek, Haught. You know I'm right too."

"Probably, but at least I won't be tired the entire time?" Nicole pulled her hiking bag onto her back in one swift motion, having put the pizza back into its place.

Waverly hung back as the redhead walked through a crack in the wall with her sister, the pair of them laughing. "Are they always like that?" She looked up at Doc who was re-adjusting his hat in the reflection of the puddle in front of them.

"They sure are," he said. "They are as thick as thieves and I dread to think what could happen if one of those demons got between them."

The younger Earp sighed and followed the notorious gunslinger into the wall. She was instantly taken aback by how thick the wall was; they were walking for a good five minutes before they got out to the other side. Once out, it took a moment for her eyes to adjust - there was never this much sunlight in the city?

"You ok there, Waves?" Wynonna smiled at her sister and passed her a pair of slightly broken sunglasses. "You'll get used to it, though the smell will get worse."

"What smell?"

Nicole laughed and shook her head, walking backwards to smile at the youngest Earp. "She's talking about us; walking beneath the rays of the sun won't leave you smelling like a daisy, that's for sure."

Wynonna scoffed. "She's lying, baby girl. Well. I say that.. Everyone does stink by the time we get back, but Sergeant Haught over there always smells like vanilla-dipped donuts and it drives me crazy. One day I'll figure out her secret."

"Like I said; thick as thieves." Doc patted Waverly on her shoulder as the two of them walked further into the dishevelled remains of whatever world had existed before zombies.

"Do you have donuts under your pits? Is there one in your pants? Dammit, tell me the answer, Haught!"

Wynonna's annoyance echoed around the crumpled buildings but Waverly couldn't deny how funny it was. It was just a shame that she was almost certain that the fun wasn't going to last very long. After all, they were outside the city. She was an Outsider.


	6. Banter

The street was quiet. That sort of made sense though, what with the population consisting of zombies and the odd rabbit. Waverly was surprised by the lack of plant life as she turned in a circle to take in the area. There were a few trees in what used to be driveways, and the odd overgrown hedge, but that was about it; maybe it was going to take more than a few years for nature to reclaim the planet.

"What, pray tell, are you concerning yourself with?" Doc half-smiled at her, though his moustache covered most of the gesture.

"I'm just surprised there isn't more greenery; I would have expected it to be like a forest out here or something."

Doc laughed. "You are most certainly an optimist, Waverly Earp."

"Is there something bad about being positive?"

"Why not at all. I do believe it may keep you alive longer in these current circumstances."

Wynonna spun around on the spot and glared at the gunslinger. "You'd better not be scaring my sister, Doc."

The gunslinger held up his hands in fake surrender but grinned at the elder Earp.

Although she was busy taking everything in, Waverly couldn't help but notice the near-constant banter between her sister and Nicole. She wasn't jealous or anything, it was just surprising that they were willing to make so much noise when they were at risk, right? Didn't the zombies work on hearing rather than sight? Waverly sighed and adjusted the strap carrying her gun; she wanted to make sure she was ready for whatever the Outside had to throw at her.

"Take cover!" Dolls shouted, heading for a gas station.

Waverly tried not to get flustered as she followed the team into what remained of the gas station. Half of the building had caved in, a tree lying on top of the rubble, but the other side seemed fairly stable. They each took refuge behind various stands, most of which still had products on. She wasn't quite sure how many packs of gummy bears the city needed, but she could certainly use the sugar rush at that moment to balance out the adrenaline.

"Are you ok baby girl?"

The younger Earp looked over her shoulder to her sister and gulped. "I think so. It's point and shoot, right?"

Wynonna nodded. "We've got you, Waves. Just try not to panic." She moved a few stands closer to the smashed window at the front of the station and took out her gun; Peacemaker she'd called it. Waverly had always thought it was a bit excessive to name a gun but Wynonna wasn't exactly normal, not that she'd want it any other way.

"I count three, Dolls," Nicole said, her voice hushed but loud enough for them all to hear.

"I have two over here," Doc replied.

"There seem to be a herd in the house across the street, but if we stay here and take them out one-by-one, we should be good," Dolls explained, joining Wynonna near the front of the station.

Waverly closed her eyes and took a deep breath, pulling her knees up to her chest. This is what she wanted, where she wanted to be. She was now literally on the front lines about to kill zombies to save the human race. No pressure or anything.

"Hey," a voice said. Waverly suddenly opened her eyes as someone placed a hand on her knee. "Like Wynonna said, we've got you Waves." Nicole smiled at the youngest Earp, her hair tied in a braid, the cap nowhere to be seen.

"If you're looking for my beret, it's in my bag. I don't want to lose my Sergeant pin while fighting a zombie, do I?" The redhead winked and headed to the front of the station, leaving Waverly well aware of her flushed red cheeks.


	7. Ammo

The zombies were slowly, but steadily, coming out of a house opposite the gas station. They weren't what Waverly had expected either; rumours in the city had created an image in her mind of hunched, deformed creatures that would drool blood all over you. These poor people looked just like that - people. Their eyes were glazed over, the odd arm or leg looking misshapen, but aside from that, they seemed normal. If anything, that made things worse; if she had to kill one of them, that would be like killing any other person.

"Waves?"

The youngest Earp blinked and looked around the corner of the food stand. Nicole was smiling at her, the Sergeant's eyes soft, like she was trying to persuade her everything was going to be ok when, quite clearly, it wasn't. As if reading the worry on her face, the redhead joined Waverly at the back of the gas station, sitting beside her as if there weren't any zombies approaching whatsoever.

"If people the city knew what the infected actually looked like, we'd have protests on our hands with even more pressure on us finding the cure. I promise you this though, if you look into their eyes you'll only see what they are, not what they used to be. It's easy to see the Levi jeans or a Walmart sweater and hope they're still somewhere in there, but they aren't."

Waverly nodded and bit her lip. "I get it, it's just hard." She paused for a moment before looking straight into the General's eyes. "Sorry, Nicole. I don't think I can kill them."

The redhead put her hand on Waverly's shoulder. "And that's fine. I would never force you to do something you weren't comfortable with. Just make sure you stay safe ok? We might need you to pass us more ammo if the entire herd comes for us."

"Sure, whatever you need," Waverly mumbled as Nicole returned to Dolls' side.

A low groaning started to echo around the gas station as the growing crowd of zombies came closer, minute by minute. The first shot was fired sooner than Waverly had expected, the sound ricocheting everywhere. She assumed the bullet was from Doc as another four fired one after the other.

"Why don't you demons return to the hell you came from," he grumbled, firing off another round of bullets.

"Yeah!" Wynonna was stood up now, Peacemaker taking down zombie after zombie, with a precision headshot each time. "What he said! And that coat would be too much for Lady Gaga, let alone you, trash-face!"

With a flick of her wrist, Wynonna shot the zombie dead, loaded Peacemaker with another round of bullets, and began firing them out of the window. Waverly wasn't sure whether to be appalled or impressed a the speed that her sister mowed the infected down, but it was quite funny to hear the various insults she came up with.

"Ammo!" Dolls just yelled his order, still shooting at the oncoming herd. Realising this meant she had to do something, Waverly started to scramble around for a fresh magazine in her backpack. Once she'd found them right at the bottom of the bag, she looked around the corner down to the front of the store. It was a good few meters away from where she was with bits of food, debris and paper in-between.

There was no guarantee that the ammo would reach Dolls if she slid them along the floor with everything in the way. What if she threw them and missed? That would be just as useless. Waverly bit her lip and ran through various options, only one making sense. Unfortunately, that meant she was going to have to be brave.

"Waves, we really need that ammo now!"

The younger Earp looked around the stand again and saw Nicole trying to smile at her, hiding behind a pillar. Beside the redhead, Dolls and Doc were taking cover underneath the broken window as a large group of zombies were gaining ground.

Closing her eyes, Waverly held the ammo to her chest and ran towards the front of the gas station, hoping she'd hit a wall or something rather than out of the doors and into the reaching arms of the infected.

Sure enough, her crouched run quickly met an obstacle. Waverly opened an eye to see if she was safe and was surprised to see arms wrapped around her middle, the ammo gone from her grasp. "The ammo!"

Dolls sighed and clicked his fingers in front of her face. "We have it, Waverly. You did good, ok? You might want to stay still for a moment though; the group of infected is larger than I'd thought."

The Earp nodded, only then realised that it was Nicole holding onto her.

"You were heading for the door," the redhead explained, avoiding Waverly's gaze. "It seemed like you'd be safer," she paused, biting her lip slightly. "Like you'd be safer in my arms."


	8. Common Sense

"After all that, there's nothing in here?" Wynonna kicked the wall and stormed out of the room.

After mowing down an entire herd, Dolls had suspected that they'd be drawn to something in the house. It now looked like his idea had been wrong.

"We still got some food rations so not a total bust," Dolls said, raising his voice as Wynonna left the house, slamming the door behind her. "Haught, can you check upstairs one last time - if there's an attic it could have supplies stored in there."

The redhead nodded, reloaded her pistol and headed for the corridor.

"Maybe take Waverly with you," Dolls said, taking hold of Nicole's arm as she walked past. "She seems to respond to you."

Waverly bit her lip as the conversation made its way to her ears. Did that mean she hadn't reacted quick enough for Dolls? Was she going to be kicked off the team?

"Doc, you're with me. No doubt Wynonna will have found another herd by now."

The gunslinger bowed his head at the younger Earp and followed Dolls into the corridor.

"Stay on your radios, people. We don't need to get lost and waste time looking for each other; I want to be home in time for dinner."

Upstairs there were three small-sized bedrooms and a small hatch in the ceiling above the staircase. Having already checked the room for supplies, Waverly stood at the top of the stairs as Nicole tried to find something that could help them reach the hatch.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Waverly asked but there was no reply. All she could hear was furniture and clutter being moved around.

"I'm pretty sure two people are better than one when it comes to finding things. I mean that's just common sense, right?" There was still no reply, but silence filled the house apart from the faint ranting of her elder sister.

Suddenly Nicole stuck her head around the corner. "If it's common sense then you could just start helping?"

"Oh, sorry," Waverly mumbled. "I wasn't sure if you had to order me to do something, or if I was ok to do whatever."

The redhead took a breath and half-smiled. "Don't worry; just help me look for something-"

Nicole stopped talking as she saw Waverly pointing into the room between them. Just inside the doorframe sat a reasonably sturdy looking bar stool.

"Oh, I guess I was looking in the wrong place." The Sergeant took the stool and climbed onto it, pushing the hatch to see if it would open without too much force.

"I know what that feels like." The younger Earp said, feeling ever-so-slightly awkward as she watched Nicole break through the hatch to the attic, unable to not take in the view.

"Come on," Nicole said, offering her hand to Waverly. "It'll be easier for you to get up there because you can climb up me. Also, we have no idea how tall the roof is and there's no way I'm getting stuck up there."

Waverly froze. Climb up the Sergeant?

"Waves, we don't have a lot of time. I'll pick you up if I have to."

It might have been the changing air pressure or the rock that was definitely now in her boot, but Waverly was certain that Nicole was flirting with her.


	9. The Attic

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ca232da7012e1ec6ae8a414f7f7fc4c1"Awkward. The was the word Waverly would choose to describe the last minute of her life. She'd never had to use someone as a ladder before and being so close to Nicole was... interesting. The General was far stronger than she looked as she helped push Waverly into the attic./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f2389df2adf184d4773c1e839407157c""Have a look for anything we could use, no matter how small. Even batteries are useful," Nicole said, her voice dying in the foam-filled attic space above her head./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="14072de1cd2336777eaea4cefa2ce05d"Waverly nodded, crouching so as not to get rotting foam in her hair. The attic was packed tight with all sorts of trinkets and cardboard boxes, presumably full of sentimental things that meant a lot to whoever used to live there. One such box had its lid half open. Peering inside, Waverly saw a collection of photographs. The frames were dusty and the pictures faded, but she could still clearly see the happy family./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ad7880dfbbe6e223cd7b8b6ebbd0b627""What happened to you," she mumbled./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="206243a4405f96719090ce9da8b76f03""Did you say something?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="69254ecdbe77cdef1aee2f6d6dd016e8""No," Waverly replied to the Sergeant. "Just talking to myself."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="2ee348a6c7b65d4741a952a79b4dcfd8"She returned to looking through boxes, most of which contained Christmas decorations or kids toys. There were a handful of batteries at the bottom of one of the toy boxes so Waverly put those in her coat pocket, just hoping they'd have some charge left in them. Aside from that, not a lot stood out as being useful unless, for some bizarre reason, someone wanted pictures of a family that had probably died./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ddcfde025341eeb7edaeaa899a08c8a7"Suddenly there was a creak from a far corner in the attic./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="b01eb4128606f70200bcaab43429385d"Waverly took hold of her shotgun and loaded it, taking a cautious step back. There were a lot of reasons an attic would creak and groan; birds, ageing, air pressure. It was usually air pressure, right?/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1a849667e900ea742cda3b13d5f02fe9""Is everything ok up there? Waves?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="be442df5e48387526a5040e8321fb937"The youngest Earp gulped and nodded her head. Nicole couldn't hear a nod but Waverly told herself that it didn't matter; she was going to walk back towards the hatch, climb down, and be safe again in Nicole's arms. She was safe with Nicole. Waverly felt her cheeks begin to burn until another creak echoed around the cramped space, aiming the shotgun towards the source of the noise in a split second./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f9f6920121144bf1478a81259656f67f""Waverly? Talk to me; I need to know you're ok."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="054f22caa9a55fc1326f0acca5bd1e42""Y-yeah," she stumbled over her words. "I'm f-fine." Something bad was going to happen, whether it was something hiding in the corner or her falling through the hatch. Either way, Waverly had butterflies in her stomach and it didn't feel good./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="cf5c5ccd353d711c5a79e5a653c25be3""Do I need to come up there?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9cb342fc135fce4847549115eafab153""N-no."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="61bd6e849451dcad55f8c4f6413e8e8b""You don't sound so sure, Waves. I'll help you down, ok? And we can get out of this house."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c7a7b9f2a17761670202622ce10c60cd""Ok, that sounds like a-" Waverly was cut off as she saw something move from the corner. The creaking floorboards got louder and more obnoxious as the thing moved ever closer. "What are you?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="34d0b05f52055bb5d8668a086d7248a0"She winced, trying to see better into the dimly-lit space. The main source of light was coming from behind her, up the hatch opening, though small seeds of light made their way through an ageing roof./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="7f5bcd5faf3b07aab2c6682bbbf209b4"As the thing walked into one of the thin slices of light, blood-shot eyes glared at her, her grip immediately tightening on the shotgun. "Not today, zombie!" Waverly shouted, making sure her gun was fully loaded./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="15ed8d38732e3d5164c34839c7457570""Zombie? Waves! I'm coming up!" Just as Nicole pulled herself up, her torso just above the hatch opening, she saw the zombie no more than a meter from Waverly's face thought the Earp stood confidently./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e8162c61f8bd4e4ba07347ed7dafcff7""Eat shit, shit eaters!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3689669cca60675fc248ea6befb7ccb3"Four bullets made their way into the face of the zombie before planting themselves in the chimney breast on the other side of the attic. What remained of the walking corpse fell to the floor in an unceremoniously deformed manner, much to Waverly's amusement./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="af0567ab8242a66c0ab604d7bad45a09""Remind me never to get on your bad side," Nicole said slowly, pulling herself up completely to stand beside Waverly. The redhead was slightly hunched over with the foam padding out what was already a small space, and her proximity to Waverly was getting increasingly smaller as she attempted to stand up as straight as possible./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="4478af780e582d3e8786e1214a98f345""You know, if you'd said there was a zombie up here, I would have helped."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e252f3128a9a32b42c06291b44556f4f"Waverly laughed a little. "Sorry, I was kind of stuck in the moment."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="4e6d18e927b295818fd32dfd816d1985""Well, I'm glad you can take care of yourself, even if I did want to be heroic and shoot it for you." The Sergeant winked and Waverly felt like a small part of her melted with it./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="70badcbb09a8026a2ede8f42c31a8757""You'd do that?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0a08bb0a089ded3de1921140b2c10116""Oh, I'd do a lot of things to you."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c8cbe774dccf0a718b1ffc5d614e1777"Both Waverly and Nicole looked stunned at one another for a moment./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="b74d528bd57deb17a13d1ff6be8279b9""For me...?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="2e0eb73bb6f9029754b386c9b94f6a84"Nicole nodded as she climbed down from the hatch opening, the movement causing her shirt to tighten perfectly around her arms, showing off just how well-toned the Sergeant was. "Yeah, that too," she said, disappearing from sight./p 


	10. Shorty's

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9086dc1aa4b448e8b103fb91a5ff606b"Waverly picked up the glass of whiskey and swirled it around slowly, watching as the dimly lit bar still made the liquid shimmer slightly. It was fairly hypnotising, much like watching bullets fly out of her shotgun, one after the other. She was surprised at how it felt; Waverly had assumed she'd feel. Well. Something./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f77dcbea9ba539d5c364b578e10e8b5d"The cheer of the crowd behind her broke her hypnosis. Looking over her shoulder, Waverly rolled her eyes - Wynonna was stood precariously atop a bar stool, singing loudly although there wasn't any music playing. Her shirt was also drenched in various alcoholic drinks; really it was a wonder how she was able to get drunk considering how much she often spilt on herself./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1111b81a1c562e6fd8e27eed783ac12b""I didn't know Shorty's had wet t-shirt competitions."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d6ab361e81a0dd686a79c360e4486046"The younger Earp jumped, suddenly realising Nicole was sat on the barstool beside her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1ce3d84e046717a3119bcbb9c9b907eb""Sorry," the redhead said quietly, leaning in slightly. "I didn't mean to scare you. It's just Wynonna seems to make such a habit of this that it may as well be a thing now." She pointed to where the elder Earp was skipping around the room, still being cheered on by a horde of soldiers./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a349f82fa3955d5b32633bcb0318853a"Waverly took a sip of her whiskey before opening her mouth to speak, only to find Nicole had got there before her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1ea28f9e41f317bc333f44803ed11515""About what I said earlier," the Sergeant was blushing. She wasn't just a little bit rosy, she was full on cheeks-matching-her-hair red. And it was adorable./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5fdecd69b9b388a9520150450280e9bb"There was a pause. A really long, slightly awkward pause where Waverly wasn't quite sure what she should do. She could say something, but what if Nicole was trying to find the right words to say something herself? She could... smile? No, smiling wouldn't do anything other than make things even more awkward. Maybe she was the one making things awkward?/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6f6a9bed9604e3b97ba8a1ada1ae5508""Waves," Nicole mumbled, putting a hand on top of Waverly's./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="024df1843eeda86d393daa24ca71bef5"The brunette flinched slightly a the warmth of the Sergeant's touch, but she couldn't deny how calming it felt. Waverly looked from their hands to the redhead's face and felt the corner of her lips twitch; she wasn't able to not smile and the seemingly cheeky glint in Nicole's eye didn't help./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="63cb7f72959e8e29e1d8e6a9de8f6469"It was cliche and Waverly loved it; slowly but surely, Nicole leant in ever closer till their noses were brushing up against one another. She could feel the redhead's breath on her lips, smell her perfume; she smelt like vanilla-dipped donuts. Waverly smiled as now even their lips brushed together for a split second; she loved the smell of vanilla-dipped donuts./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="4a0c495ac2839ff4772ecae85d310eaa"Closing her eyes, Waverly chucked all her eggs into one basket, so-to-speak, and kissed Nicole. It was clumsy, and it partially failed, her lips mostly connecting with the redhead's chin, but with a bit of realigning, it was pure perfection./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="472f8673d458143e0b32dc2aed5c8570""Waverly!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="67e1d5b1c7c375abc07305f52ea0ce40"The brunette's eyes snapped open. Wynonna was sat in front of her, downing what had been the remainder of her whiskey. The younger Earp looked around the bar but, as she feared, the redhead was nowhere to be seen./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="7b1906c523b0b29145d9b02e5782f102""Can you get me another drink, baby girl?" Wynonna leant in close to her sister, whispering far louder than Waverly had thought was possible. "Shorty is refusing to give me any more booze and I don't want the party to stop."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="83e122635dc2a4e2a39f215be6594346"Waverly rolled her eyes and shook her head. "No, I think it's time we headed home if Shorty won't serve you anymore./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="79a181e0069b5fafa346b6b607443026""Waves," Wynonna groaned, dragging out every possible letter she could of her sister's name. "I don't want to go home yet. We're all having so much fun."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e577e86261834d904164c6ccd4901921""So much so that someone else has already taken your place?" Waverly took hold of her sister's arm and led her towards the bar door, her heart breaking a little as she saw the realisation in Wynonna's face; a drunken soldier was no dancing on a bar stool, the crowd still cheering./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="2913648bbb99531daab67ae9702d9636"Waverly put her hand out to open the bar door and instead felt something that was both soft and hard at the same time. She looked up and saw Nicole smiling at her, cheeks blushing./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="4954d85c4e3f7f112d8fbdedff466899""Hi."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1026a7d75bea0c5cd07bcaa35ea72861""Hi."/p 


	11. Chickpeas

"Why didn't you let me say hi to my bestest buddy?" Wynonna stumbled over thin air and fell onto her hands and knees, laughing.

"Because you are so drunk right now, you wouldn't have made any sense. Besides, you'll want to go to sleep soon and I can't ask Shorty to bring you home again, not after last time."

The streets were desolate and dimly lit with flickering torches. It had been Sergeant Major Nedley's idea to hook up lines of torches to the main generator to keep things a little lighter, especially in the winter months. It made getting home a lot easier, though Wynonna wasn't an easy drunk to handle.

"That's not fair Waves," the elder Earp protested. "I never asked for my beer to have tequila in it as well; everyone knows that's just asking for trouble. And vomit. Lots of vomit."

"You mixed it yourself, numbnuts, by drinking everything you set your eyes on."

Wynonna shook her head, throwing an arm around her sister's shoulders. "Pfft, you're just jealous."

"Jealous of what exactly?"

"That I can drink and you can't."

"Right," Waverly said lowly, thankful she was able to see the homestead up ahead. "Because my inability to drink is why I was able to have three whiskeys and a beer before walking you home?"

Wynonna furrowed her brows and attempted to cross her arms, falling over once again. "You know that's not what I meant."

The younger Earp left her sister lying face-first in the mud and knocked on the homestead door. After a minute or two, the door opened to reveal Waverly's life-long friend, Jeremy, cradling a pot noodle.

"Where did you find that?" Waverly's jaw practically dropped.

"I traded it for a lighting hack. I actually got three, but I've already eaten the other two. Sorry," Jeremy said, slurping on a noodle. "Where's Wynonna?"

Waverly sighed and pointed over her shoulder. Jeremy simply nodded, put the pot noodle down by the door and walked towards the slumped body of the elder Earp.

It wasn't long before Wynonna had been placed on the sofa, an arm hanging onto the floor, her snoring echoing around the house. The homestead itself wasn't quite a palace but at least it felt homely. There were only three rooms in their little apartment-home; a living room which doubled up as the kitchen, and two bedrooms. It was often the case that Waverly would take one of the beds and Wynonna the other, leaving the sofa for Jeremy although he wasn't always in need of it as he worked closely with Sergeant Major Nedley. That meant a warm bed, three hot meals a day and a roof that didn't leak. Not that Waverly was jealous.

"How much did she drink this time?" Jeremy inhaled another noodle and perched on the arm of the sofa. "I'm guessing a lot if she's sleeping already?"

Waverly nodded. "She definitely won't remember this tomorrow. But I suppose you get her bed tonight?"

Jeremy shot his fist into the air and grinned. "Thanks; I can't wait to sleep on a mattress again." He left the living room, pot noodle in hand, leaving Waverly to watch her snoring sister.

"You never make life easy for yourself, do you?" She moved a strand of hair from Wynonna's face; her sister looked so peaceful when she slept.

Deciding it was better to get to sleep sooner rather than later, Waverly got a glass of water and left it beside the sofa as well as a bucket that they usually used to catch the never-ending drips that came from the ceiling. She then went to the window to close the curtains but was surprised to see a familiar shape walking away from the homestead.

Waverly squinted to try and see through the filthy glass, her eyes widening as she noticed a flash of red from beneath the cap. The figure suddenly stopped walking and looked over their shoulder. Not quite knowing what to do, the brunette waved.

Nicole waved back and continued walking back into the town's centre.

Suddenly there was a loud bang and Waverly spun around to find that Wynonna had fallen off the sofa, her face buried in the floorboards. Somehow, the elder Earp was still sound asleep.

"Unbelievable," Waverly muttered, heading to her bed, leaving her sister on the floor. She had a blanket over her so she wouldn't get cold.

The next day, Waverly woke to the sound of voices. Loud, happy, giggling voices that just rubbed salt into the wound with her slightly sore head. Plus she'd never been much of a morning person. Taking hold of her three blankets, plus a bonus blanket, Waverly made her way into the living room, consciously making sure she had a firm scowl plastered all over her face to Wynonna and Jeremy would know just how angry-

"Nicole?"

Waverly felt her throat go dry and she could have sworn that the Sergeant's cheeks flushed red.

"Waves! You're finally up!" Wynonna pulled her sister in for a hug and the kissed her hard on the forehead. "Come on, eat your flafla or whatever and then we've got to go."

"Falafel? Wynonna, wait."

The elder Earp rolled her eyes as well as her entire head. "Come on baby girl! We can't make the Sergeant wait any longer than she has to; she's a properly professional person and everything. I mean, just look at her hat. She has a hat with her rank on it. I don't have a hat with my rank on it!"

The redhead laughed and patted Wynonna on her bare head. "That's because you haven't achieved a rank important enough yet."

Wynonna raised an eyebrow at the Sergeant before holding up her hand. "That was a good one, Haught. High-five."

"Maybe later, Wynonna. Besides, Waverly needs to get dressed before we can leave."

At the mention of her name, Waverly wrapped her blankets even tighter around her small frame. "It won't take me long to put some different clothes on you know," she mumbled, not wanting to come across as a burden. It was bad enough that she'd almost failed Dolls on their first mission together. "But I'll need toast or something before we go."

Right on cue, Jeremy came into the room and held up an opened tin like it was worth being impressed with.

"What's wrong with you now?" Wynonna slumped onto the sofa, her head rolling back so she saw Jeremy upside-down.

"It's a tin of chickpeas," he explained. "A very rare, rather sought-after, tin of chickpeas."

"No. Freaking. Way." Waverly ran to his side and ogled at the tin.

"Yes freaking way; I found it under Wynonna's bed."

The room fell silent as Jeremy realised what he'd just said.

"Let's say that's all you found and move on, yeah?" Wynonna said quickly, avoiding Nicole's intrigued gaze. "And Waverly please go put on some clothes; Haught didn't need to see the blanket burrito."

"Fine," Waverly muttered, suddenly feeling embarrassed. "I'll be ready in a few minutes. And Jeremy?"

"Yeah?"

"You'd better not make hummus without me. I have a shotgun."

"Right. Got it."


	12. Coffee

The walk to Outsider headquarters wasn't a long one. Waverly wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, it was nice to see her sister having a laugh as if the zombie apocalypse had never happened, but on the other hand, she was now totally the third wheel.

"Come on Waverly! We haven't got all day, you know." Wynonna rolled her eyes at the younger Earp and jogged ahead of Nicole.

The redhead looked over her shoulder and smiled at the brunette, Waverly's cheeks suddenly becoming warm in the chill of the morning air.

"You ok back there?" Nicole said, still beaming.

Waverly nodded her head as the Sergeant slowed her pace to walk beside the brunette. "It's nice to see Wynonna having fun actually; seeing her drink Shorty's dry can be a bit worrying."

The redhead adjusted her cap and put her hands into her trouser pockets. "I know what you mean. I try to avoid the bar for that exact reason."

"So you don't see my sister 'disturbing the peace'?"

Nicole laughed and shook her head. "No, not exactly. I see myself in Wynonna sometimes and although that isn't a bad thing, it just reminds me that with my responsibilities, I can't afford to let myself go that much. If you get what I mean?"

"I actually get exactly what you mean."

"Oh, right," the Sergeant mumbled. "I'm guessing Wynonna doesn't realise quite how much time you spend looking out for her, right?"

"You could say that. I don't mind it; she's my sister after all." Waverly shrugged, watching as the elder Earp ran straight into Doc, almost knocking him over. "It would be nice to let my hair down too sometimes. Though I suppose with the world turning into zombies, now isn't really the right time."

Nicole stopped walking and put her hand on Waverly's shoulder. "You don't need to drink to have fun, Waves. And also, we should all be celebrating the fact we're still alive, especially with what our job involves."

"Oi! Haught stuff! We going to work or not?"

The younger Earp looked over to her sister where she was now bickering with Doc over something or other. No doubt they'd be hearing all about it for the rest of the day.

"You keep going, Earp!" Nicole shouted back, waving at Doc. "We're right behind you!"

Wynonna took hold of Doc's hand and pulled him further down the street until they were almost out of sight. She'd never been one for hanging around.

"How about we go for a coffee after today's mission?"

"You have coffee?"

"Well I found a tin of instant a few days ago, so, for now, I do, yeah."

Waverly bit her lower lip, impressed that no-one had heard of the legendary substance being held by the Sergeant. If Wynonna had been hoarding chickpeas and Nicole coffee, what else were people keeping to themselves? "Coffee it is then," she said quietly, pulling her scarf tighter around her neck.

Inside the main office for Outsider headquarters stood Dolls, Doc and Wynonna. All we still and silent, staring straight ahead at the wall. Needless to say, Waverly felt uneasy seeing them so... not them. Wynonna shot her a death-stare-type-glance and then looked back at the wall.

The brunette had no idea what her sister was trying to say, nor did a glare help translate the elder Earp's muffled cries. Waverly felt even more perplexed by the situation when Nicole walked straight past her and stood beside Dolls at the end of the line, also standing in silence facing the wall.

"At ease," came a booming, yet soft, voice.

Waverly felt herself jump from her skin as she turned around on the spot. Behind her stood Sergeant Major Nedley, the man in charge of keeping everyone in the city alive. The man in charge of keeping the Outsiders alive.

"Miss Earp," he said, looking straight into her eyes. "It's nice to finally meet you." The Sergeant Major held out his hand and Waverly told herself to shake it. She couldn't remember doing so, her body frozen solid, but somehow she managed the polite gesture and the Sergeant Major gave her a smile.

Nedley walked along the line, starting with Nicole. He mentioned a slightly off-centre cap in a hushed voice. To Dolls, he suggested carrying two more packs of ammo if he'd run out last time. Doc was told to consider bringing a different hat for the job as the wide brim of his leather stetson was like wearing a target. Wynonna was simply told to try being sober for once and that was all. The Sergeant Major spoke loud enough that Waverly could hear a meter or so away, but he wasn't declaring their flaws to the world; Nedley was considerate of their feelings. No wonder Jeremy liked working for him.

"Now, Waverly," the Sergeant Major said, holding his arm out to guide her to a spot next to Wynonna. "When I enter the room, it's kind of a tradition that everyone stands to attention. The Outsiders being the highest ranks in the room form a line as well, as you can see."

Waverly nodded her head, trying to make sure she'd remember every word he said for later. Of course she was going to practice in her bedroom when she got home, how else would she be perfect the next time?

"To stand at attention it's pretty simple," Nedley said, moving her arms to her sides, and angling her head so she looked straight ahead at the wall like her sister. "You just need to stand still like this, until I say you can stand at ease. I'm sure your sister can explain what to do then."

"Ok, I think I've got it," Waverly mumbled.

"Well good luck with your mission today, and make sure they don't leave you behind."

The brunette nodded and smiled to herself, aware of the stone-cold glare Nedley was giving Dolls.

The Sergeant Major then left the room, closing the door behind him. Nearly everyone let out a heavy sigh, but Waverly could only giggle at the whole situation - she'd never seen Doc and Dolls look so scared before. Although saying that, Dolls didn't really show much emotion of any sort, however, the beads of sweat on his forehead weren't hiding much anymore.

"Right, come on then," he said, clapping his hands and making everyone jump. "We need this planned out perfectly to be home as quickly as possible. Got it?"

The team nodded and got to work. It was then that Waverly realised she felt like part of the group; she knew what her job was, she knew what they wanted to achieve, and she was ready to help wherever she was needed.


	13. Krispy Kreme

The sun, Waverly had decided, wasn't helpful when keeping an eye open for approaching zombies. A pair of sunglasses could help, but then they'd be useless if she was taking cover indoors. Maybe if there were some glasses that were dark outside, and light inside? That could -

"Waverly?"

The brunette snapped out of her thought bubble and smiled at Doc. "Sorry," she said, "Just daydreaming."

"I would recommend you keep your daytime dreaming to a minimum as where we are is often piled high with the god-forsaken creatures we intend to fight."

Laughter came from the front of the group where Wynonna was skipping beside Dolls, the stoic Sergeant flinching with every other sound, almost like he was being electrocuted.

"Doc do you ever just say, like, one-word answers?"

"I'm not entirely sure what you are referring to," the gunslinger replied, adjusting his hat as if the leather stetson had taken offence on his behalf.

Wynonna simply started laughing again, skipping ahead a few meters much to Dolls' annoyance.

The street was fairly quaint in Waverly's humble opinion. Each side of the road had building after building, the fronts of which were mostly smashed in, having been large glass windows for shops or cafes. There were a handful of cars parked along the road too; some on the curb, some strewn across the middle. One was even hanging out of the top floor of an old shop, however, it managed to get there in the first place.

Between some of the street lamps was some bunting, all faded of course, but it was there. It was almost like a weird metaphor in some ways; the car hanging out of the second floor of a building while bunting remained strung between leaning street lamps.

Suddenly, Dolls stopped moving and crouched down behind one of the cars parked on the curb. The rest of the group shuffled close behind him, also taking cover behind the car. Wynonna had ducked into the entrance to an old shop a few meters ahead, looking irritated at herself.

"Dolls?" Nicole shuffled past Waverly to talk Sergeant things with, well, the other Sergeant. "What's the situation?"

"We've got four hostiles at ten o'clock inside the coffee house and another three just inside Krispy Kreme at two o'clock."

The redhead nodded and made sure her pistol was loaded, also double-checking the ammo packs attached to her belt. Waverly wondered what else she had stored in the multiple velcro pockets on the utility belt; in an ideal world, at least one would be filled with baked goods.

"You ready Waves?" The Sergeant didn't smile as such, but there was something about the look in her eyes that made the brunette feel safe. Or at least as safe as she could feel in the midst of a zombie-infested street.

"I am this time," she replied, preparing her shotgun for use. Finding a nice spot above the wheel arm of the rusting car, Waverly positioned herself where she could quite easily hit any of the four zombies to their left.

Thanks to a not-so-dainty sneeze from Doc, it wasn't long before the two groups of zombies were headed straight for them.

"I have allergies, okay?"

The gunslinger went from looking embarrassed to the core to killing two approaching zombies with a single bullet. He walked over to their flinching bodies and fired another bullet through the eye of each of them, just to make sure.

Wynonna had somehow found a donut, casually ramming it into her mouth as she fired peacemaker over and over, mowing down the infected. The two Sergeants were back-to-back in a movie-style showdown as an entire herd of scarily-fast zombies burst out of a shop just slightly further down the street from Krispy Kreme.

It was all going on in slow-motion in front of Waverly's eyes, like a bizarrely beautiful dance until she heard grumbling coming up behind her. Spinning around on the spot, she fired the shotgun instinctively and the zombie fell to the ground with a soft thud.

"Waves!" Wynonna shouted to her sister, running towards the car. Waverly looked from her sister back to where the zombie lay and noticed a herd getting closer b the second. Two herds just had to be bad luck, right?

"Stay there, Wynonna," Waverly shouted back, reloading the shotgun with another round. "I've got these suckers covered!"

One-by-one, the zombies fell. If only music had been playing; that would have made the situation go by quicker at least.

"Guys, I'm running out of bullets!" She shouted over her shoulder, not taking her eyes off of the infected corpses running straight towards her.

In an instant, Nicole was beside her, a fresh round of ammo in her hand, a pistol in the other. "I've got you, Waves," the redhead mumbled, passing the bullets over. It wasn't long after the Sergeant joined her that the herd was dissolved and only the odd zombie remained.

Waverly went to help Wynonna and Doc finish off the other herd when she felt something come up behind her. Before she could even turn around, Nicole pushed her out of the way and a gun fired.

"Nicole?" Waverly felt her lower lip begin to tremble.

The redhead lay on the tarmac beside the zombie, both still and silent.

"Nicole!"


	14. Wynonnus Interruptus

"Oh my god, Nicole!"

Waverly fell at the Sergeant's side, turning her over to see her face. Her eyelids were closed, and her body still. The zombie beside them was covered in blood, its jaw hanging by a thread.

"Please don't tell me I did that," Wynonna muttered, frozen to the spot. Peacemaker was still smoking in her hand.

The brunette glared at her sister. "Well, half the zombie's face is hanging off so you probably did, Wynonna." She moved a few stray hairs from Nicole's face and tried to take every in feature, one-by-one. The redhead looked so peaceful it was scary, but she was so breathtakingly beautiful at the same time.

"We don't have time to be doing this," Dolls said quietly, putting a hand on Waverly's shoulder. "We need to get moving; we're a sitting target here."

Shaking her head, Waverly brushed off Dolls' hand and wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve. At this point, she didn't care if another herd of zombies attacked them; she'd never got to tell Nicole how she felt and that hurt. That really hurt.

Ignoring Dolls' words and Wynonna's flustered babbling, Waverly took Nicole's face with her hands, gently caressing the redhead's cheek with her thumb. Her skin was so soft, so smooth. So cold to the touch. The brunette closed her eyes and blocked out the world around her and leant in close to Nicole.

Waverly tried to stop the tears from falling just for a moment but it proved harder than she'd thought. Tears hadn't been part of her plan but life never worked out the way it was expected to.

Taking a breath to steady her shattered nerves, Waverly placed her lips on Nicole's, taken aback by how warm they felt. She was even more surprised when the Sergeant seemed to be kissing her back. The brunette opened her eyes and jumped back as she saw the redhead beaming up at her with puppy-dog eyes.

"Haught-damn! You're alive!"

Nicole nodded, laughing and wincing at the same time, putting a hand to her chest. "I mean I hope so, otherwise this would be a very weird conversation."

"Glad to see you're still with us, Haught," Dolls said, smiling at her. "Are you well enough to continue are do we need to take you back to medical?"

"Don't be daft, Dolls, I'm fine; I was just knocked out." Nicole unbuttoned her shirt, revealing a slightly dented bulletproof vest. "I told you these weren't a waste of time."

Waverly gulped and nodded her head slowly, moving away from the redhead. "Yeah, I'm glad you're ok too," she mumbled before crossing the road and taking cover in one of the shops. Being embarrassed in front of her peers, and Wynonna as well wasn't the most fun thing in the world. If she could just hide for a little bit, let the situation die down... Waverly put her head in her hands and lent back against the last fully-remaining wall in the shop.

"Waves?"

The brunette hastily wiped her eyes and saw two figures appear in the doorway. As her eyes focussed, she realised that Wynonna was propping Nicole up, the redhead's arm around the elder Earp's shoulder.

"The Sergeant wanted to talk to you, baby girl," Wynnona said, her voice strained as she tried to support Nicole's entire weight. "So here she is."

"Seriously Wynonna? You couldn't just let me walk?"

"No way dude, you're hurt."

"I was winded, not amputated."

"Same thing, tater-Haught. Now shut up and talk to my sister. You've got like five minutes though 'cause Dolls is getting antsy again." Wynonna let go of Nicole's arm and waved goodbye as she skipped out of the shop, probably to go and annoy Doc again.

The younger Earp tucked a loose hair behind her ear and smiled at the Sergeant, painfully aware of every movement the redhead made as she winced at the same time. Sure she'd been winded, but it looked like she also had a bruised rib as well. Or something; she wasn't a doctor obviously but it seemed likely.

"So," Nicole said, taking a few steps towards the brunette, a glint in her eye. "What exactly happened out there? I'm not sure I can remember."

Waverly bit her lip and shrugged. "I'm not sure when you woke up so I can't say for sure what you missed?"

The redhead took another step closer, their bodies nearly touching. "I think you were saying something," she muttered, taking yet another step. Waverly felt a shiver run down her spine as one of the Sergeant's legs was now between hers. "Or doing something like this."

It was hard enough trying to think with Nicole being so, so close to her, but as the redhead brought their lips together, it was now impossible to function. To say it was magical would be lying because it was so much more than that. Waverly automatically ran her hands through Nicole's hair, the Sergeant pulling her closer in return.

The brunette felt a wave of confidence as she let her hands wonder elsewhere along Nicole's body, partly being guided by the redhead's own hands, encouraging her. Everything was going beyond perfect until three small beeps came from the Sergeant's belt followed by white noise.

"Hello? Come in, Haught!"

Nicole grumbled something under her breath as she parted her lips from Waverly's.

"This is your daily dose of Wynonnus Interruptus saying: dude, hurry up. We have zombies to kill and a cure to find, remember?"

The redhead bit her lip, looking straight into the brunette's eyes. "She'll come in if we don't go out," Nicole muttered, still visibly annoyed by the interruption. "But you definitely have to meet me for coffee now." She winked and fixed her uniform, also running a hand through her hair.

The Sergeant cleared her throat and left the shop, leaving Waverly breathless, but happier than she could have ever comprehended was possible. "I can't wait."


	15. Tents

The rest of the day felt slow. They'd searched every store and every house on the next four streets. The sun was starting to set - that was how long they'd been outside and Waverly's feet weren't happy about it. At least with the day coming to an end, she knew they'd be heading back to the city and that meant she could go on her date with Nicole. As Waverly tried to casually spin around on the spot to see the redhead behind her, she realised the Sergeant was already beaming at her with a charming grin.

"Just another hour guys, and then we'll head back," Dolls said, taking a bite out of a twinkie he'd found. "We've done good work today; this is the furthest out we've been so far."

Wynonna put her hands in the air and squealed. "Get in! First round is on Doc when we get back, ok? Ok. Good. Now, let's hurry this up."

"I am not sure I agree with this plan of yours, Wynonna," the gunslinger said, confused. "Liquor is best consumed in the early evening unless it is whiskey. Whiskey may be drunk at any hour, for it is indeed a most beautiful and delicate drink."

The elder Earp burst out laughing, patting Doc hard on his back. "Oh my god, you crack me up sometimes." She put her hands on her hips and furrowed her brow, "It is indeed a most beautiful and delicate drink," she mimicked his voice the best she could, sniggering between every other word. "You're hilarious."

Waverly put a hand on the gunslinger's shoulder. "Try not to worry," she said. "Wynonna's just excited to be heading home again."

"I am sure we shall all be thankful for the wall to be in our sights once more, Miss Earp."

The brunette looked over her shoulder at Nicole again and smiled. She'd never been so excited, and nervous, to see a wall.

"Dolls? Oi! Come look at this!"

Waverly almost rolled her eyes as she saw Wynonna stood on an overturned lorry, jumping up and down.

"Guys, there's actually a really cool thing over here that you all totally need to see."

Sergeant Dolls reluctantly joined the elder Earp on top of the lorry and signalled something to Nicole. It wasn't long before Doc joined them too and Waverly didn't want to be left out so she scaled the vehicle, Nicole helping her up onto her feet.

"Careful," the redhead whispered. "If you get hurt, you can't come over for coffee."

Waverly bit her lip and then saw what Wynonna had found, her jaw suddenly dropping open. At the far end of the road was something that looked like a tent of sorts. There were red crosses painted on the sides and it was absolutely massive; it was probably stretched across the end of multiple streets, including the one they were on.

"So that's pretty friggin cool, right?" Wynonna was beaming, her smile going from ear to ear.

"It's not a bad find, Earp," Dolls said. "It looks like a military facility. Does anyone have binoculars?"

"Oh, I do," Nicole said, passing them to the other Sergeant.

"Perfect; there are soldiers patrolling the area."

Waverly raised an eyebrow at Dolls' tone. "Isn't that a good thing? Another human settlement or something?"

"Unfortunately not, Waverly; these soldiers are unclassified to us. All I know is that the last Outsider team came across a military facility like this, but didn't come back from attempts to make contact. The report we got back from them said something about human-zombie hybrids so, like I said, they're unclassified."

Wynonna let out a heavy sigh. "Well, that doesn't sound depressing or anything. Can we at least break into their tiny little bunker over there?" She pointed to a smaller tent about halfway between them and the facility. There were a couple of soldiers stood in front of it but that was all.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Nicole said, looking at Dolls. "What if these soldiers are simply hostile? If they're human, we don't have the right to injure them. If they're zombies, then how on earth are they so well-organised?"

"Sergeant Haught is right," Doc mumbled, straightening his stetson. "We cannot go in firing our weapons if these people still possess their minds. It is unwise, however, to assume they are like you or I."

Just as Waverly opened her mouth to speak, she heard two large bangs, making her jump. "Please don't say tell me-"

Nicole nodded slowly. "Wynonna just shot the guards and is now waving at us from the tent."

The team clambered off of the lorry and met Wynonna outside the smaller tent, Dolls blatantly giving her a hard stare. He also insisted on going into the tent first, Nicole following close behind. When they shouted for everyone else to enter, Waverly was stunned at how much stuff there was.

There was almost a wall-high pile of bullet-proof vests with boxes and trunks all over the floor. Wynonna headed straight to the vests and jumped head-first into them, sending them tumbling to the ground. Dolls and Doc opened up a couple of the trunks, finding machine guns, bullets and even a couple of rocket launchers inside.

"We need to take as much of this back as we can," Dolls said, already dropping handfuls of bullets into his hiking bag. "But only take what you can carry; we still need to return safe and in one piece."

Waverly took a couple of the smaller machine guns and squeezed them into her rucksack, the tips poking out of the top where the zips met. She then went to the back of the tent where the bullet-proof vests were and tried to find the smallest one possible in the hope it would actually fit her.

"Can I help?"

The brunette gasped but then smiled, feeling Nicole's breath on her neck. The Sergeant wasn't exactly being subtle although with Wynonna still shoulder-deep in the mountain of vests and guns, maybe that wasn't an issue.

"I'm not sure there's anything to help with," Waverly said, her voice hushed.

"So you know how to put on a vest properly and safely in a way that doesn't hurt your ribs after half an hour?"

"No..."

There was a small pause as Nicole gently moved a strand of hair from Waverly's face before she began to sift through the various vests around them.

"Ok, so I do need your help but just don't let Wynonna see."

"Why? Will she tease you for wearing safety equipment that stops you from dying?" The redhead bit her lip, trying not to laugh at the brunette's concerned face.

"Well not exactly," Waverly murmured.

"Then what could it be?"

"Hey, Haught stuff! Look what I found; it's a rocket launcher or something." Wynonna burst out of the mound of vests, holding the large weapon with a wide grin on her face. "Do you reckon it could fire donuts or something into someone's mouth? Asking for a friend, obviously."


	16. Calamity-Jane

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="cbfc75296f88e345cfee3e6b23749afd""You coming, Waves?" Wynonna's head was peering around the doorway./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="680a6e4dfae70afd7add5cac7a1be7ac"The team had spent three or four hours categorising everything they'd found and then taking all of the stuff to its own particular rooms in Outsider HQ to be distributed amongst the population. That meant each gun they'd carried back, and that was a lot, had to be logged and cleaned. Each tin of food had the used-by date noted and stacked in one of the basement rooms. Waverly was adamant that somewhere in one of those rooms was a stack of chickpeas just begging to be made into hummus./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="da0b91ffb7706f61b455faa64ce23d30""Waves?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="220e073c98db9087834cbc1d85738307"The brunette snapped out of her hummus-based daydreaming and shook her head. "Um, no. I'm going to try and finish logging the guns we found."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f55a865cac06db4db8413aa42d9a7ef0"Wynonna rolled her eyes. "Seriously? It's happy hour at Shorty's!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="87fe73992e18f905d36e9806b9138790""I know, I used to work there. I just want to make a good impression, Wynonna. I'll be home later though."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="282374c11b0b4cb674aaa4c146a29009""Ok well, fair enough I suppose. Just don't go shooting Nedley if he tells you to do it all again. Apparently, that isn't 'good behaviour' or whatever." Wynonna left, still muttering as she walked down the hallway./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="70fa7c521e742add89a02c5e14cb3ae5"Half an hour or so later, another figure appeared in the doorway. The flash of red in the evening glow gave it away and Waverly's felt her cheeks begin to burn./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="2af321651218749a541736c5e35a6c41""You ready, Waves?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="7496e183fdeb725c62903bed6ed63f79"A chill ran down the brunette's spine. "Yep, let me just finish logging this gun and then we can go."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a591663adae8e733588527dcc75167bd""And your sister won't be interrupting this time?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c16027709334fc79bf9a8e7f2f35c825""No chance; I told her about the pot noodle under my bed and that was enough to get her home without questions."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a82aa0cc1667e42a70c60dcb7c48172e"Nicole laughed. "No surprises there."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5b4366c30d9dbb46c8aca519c4615e56"The walk to the Sergeant's house wasn't as nerve-racking as Waverly's had expected. In fact, unlike with Champ's idea of conversation, the brunette felt like Nicole took in and understood every word she said. Equally, instead of just agreeing with her, the redhead wasn't afraid to bring up other points or even argue with her and in a way, Waverly was thankful for her honesty./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d600554263449e5d1844a6e28f5e9f22"Nicole's house didn't look much different to Waverly's, the exterior being pretty much identical. However, as soon as she stepped inside, there was a completely different feel to the place. The Earp house, the Homestead as they called it, felt slightly damp but homey. A weird combination but it was what made it home for them. The Sergeant's house was warm and tidy. It still felt like a home, but it felt different from the Homestead. Not that it was a bad thing, of course./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="cce278157c712a8d0af3ee056dbddc5c"A meow broke Waverly's train of thought and almost made her jump./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5e7951df1fa6bcdfff8be5e824886e53""Ah, sorry, don't mind Calamity-Jane. She's trying to be friendly."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="90e0bc8de0f14ea4c48b273268262969"The brunette grinned and made a fuss of the cat, the ball of ginger fluff purring instantly. "That's fine by me, it's been a while since I've seen something so adorable. Apart from maybe when Jeremy thought he'd found an apple but it was just a cricket ball."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9f233a09b2d59dd294669ef791181855""Well, take a seat, make yourself comfortable, and I'll make us some coffee. Black is ok for you, right? I don't have milk of any sort, unfortunately."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a30e5212bc21c7ae0a2004781a8a1c30""Yeah, black's fine," Waverly said, nodding. She looked around the small room, marvelling at how it could be the same size as the homestead, but look so different. Three types of armchair of varying sizes were in the corner, a large rug on the wooden floorboards. There was a small coffee table in front of them and piles of books were scattered pretty much all over the place, and yet it still looked tidy./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f6370fc7da9c964d67b8dbc304923ada"In the opposite corner were a couple of bookshelves, also scattered with books, along with other things like a homemade scratching post, a few picture frames and an ornate looking ring./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0270e70669e45400fa59ace44250a931"Waverly decided not to sit on one of the three armchairs, and instead followed Nicole into her quaint kitchen, watching intently as the Sergeant poured the freshly brewed coffee into two matching mugs./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="87fb34639671427fa1dbe55295578680""The armchairs not comfortable?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1cc1d38f87fdd22f9c1a2de7afdaf8d2""Oh, no, I was just, uh-" Waverly trailed off as she realised Nicole was giggling to herself./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="108463e6092372b2ea66093a8b3bd9c9""Great," the brunette grumbled. "I didn't expect you to tease me as well; I have enough of that with Wynonna."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="15e98ab57b6208a88e3591d435dd0096"Nicole handed Waverly one of the mugs as she walked past, their lips only a few centimetres away. "It's no fun if I can't tease you."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ed54eeb428670a35c583be08b53dde6f"They both took an armchair each, Calamity-Jane jumping onto Waverly's lap. The redhead went to apologise for her cat's rude behaviour but seeing how the brunette was happily snuggling into the ball of fur, she decided to leave it./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="4c0bef9e6a9b13321305bec540ab656b""You have to tell me how you found coffee," Waverly said between sips of the steaming liquid. "It's like gold, I swear."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0e86a40f527d00c895609de0d46c6978"The redhead blushed a little and wrapped her hands tighter around the mug. "It's a bit of an awkward story," she mumbled./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1d380b4242ef3de540884fd875bf7497""Oh, sorry," Waverly started, her voice faltering as Nicole raised a finger./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c419b491148663f2bb99a6a0401e1448""Don't be sorry, Waves, it's a question. Really, it's fine."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="58aaf656bd0ccb2b0d6bf44c9a5fa1fc"The brunette felt a rush of warmth run over her as the redhead smiled./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d52c48283400e9c9f2d39c6515edcd0b""Back when the city walls had been put up and we were all safe etcetera, I," Nicole paused for a moment, her eyes glazing over. "I met someone. It was a bit of a rushed thing, but when the world seems to be falling apart around you, it felt like the right thing to do, to hold onto anything I could. So we got married and the coffee was a wedding gift from Sergeant Major Nedley."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9cc18315b3f0225f0fd2e5f04f3b7136"Waverly remembered to blink and took a sip of her coffee. She wasn't quite sure what to say; sure people had lives before the world broke out into chaos and they'd been in the city long enough for children to be born but she hadn't expected Nicole to be married? That just made her feel bad; why wouldn't Nicole be married? Anyone with eyes would want to marry her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3948ece29c834381fedf1036cdc07408"Waverly blinked again and smiled. "By the look of this place, your wedding must have been beautiful?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="349e84cb0c2e287c69c1740f6c84ae36"The redhead laughed a little. "Yeah, it wasn't too bad considering it was at Shorty's."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f6f56cea995088a2a01057e33c3173df""Seriously? The bar?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="2b5169f3f249393cdf784f878aa014e8""It was the best place to have it at the time; there wasn't the market or Outsider HQ back then."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8a1c42d44bd0a7ccf57a5e7d0a5ba831""Oh wow, I can't remember a world before the market. What was there before?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1fb866b30df74d4b42f18b55052f3d9e"Nicole scrunched up her nose as she thought hard. "I think it was a semi-collapsed Taco Bell."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d951c5a0afa3252a0a1739a1874a0705""I'm guessing the tacos were all gone?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="bc7ab4c9101672bac345df1da82f5f42""Yup."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="63c90142dfbca49770fb5a81ff3cbbf3""Drat."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="32527d5fd5afe497caca7013f052d9f4""Are you saying you would have eaten dusty tacos?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f0be7f975c4ca0b277b9e56c97440ecf"Waverly shrugged. "I just really miss tacos."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="88fc994971e60817ca24db392fb6be7a"Nicole laughed and put her coffee down on the table in front of them. "Shae works at the clinic. We got divorced about three years ago."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ff8e1d52ea7a57826c7beb09be102bda""I didn't, I wasn't going to-"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9ced960dbf385707e10abbe9fd2f6a68""I know you weren't going to ask because you're too nice a person, but I could see you were wondering about it."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="059b391bb1bf42d13a5e28e77a0c0da3"The brunette bit her lip and also put her coffee down./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="484c5156ea900ee1c69d53549ed8ef39""Waves," Nicole said quietly, taking holding of Waverly's hands with her own. "Something you need to understand is that you can ask me anything, tell me anything. You are so incredibly extraordinary, Waverly Earp. Please believe me when I say I'd never want to rush into anything that's important to me, but with your new job as an Outsider and us most likely scouting the military base tomorrow, I feel like rushing may be the best option."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="eaf2ec7dfad0cdc84e34d6062132ba56"The brunette felt her cheeks burning up, the redhead's hands squeezing hers, their eyes locked onto one another./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6b57e19b16c4c46175c233644583c72a""The point to my rambling is this. Will you, Waverly Earp, be my girlfriend?"/p 


	17. From The Watchtower

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="2c987b51aaecce741081cc98efa1eec1"Waverly looked into Nicole's eyes and felt her mind go numb./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a9be0790f23fe0a0c9686d8eb064a1d3"That was it./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="95e3515d505099789538b28f6f4d5be0"Just nothingness./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6558fc6a07a5951b2cc3f5a5fd5f03d9"Her brain had gone completely blank./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="29e90c6a97e35066a44c9ed7b25d0d36"The redhead's smile started to fade a little as worry took over. "Oh god, I'm sorry Waves. I shouldn't have asked, I'm so sor-"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e5a563b8d37629d59002802c0c2abfcb"Waverly put her hands either side of Nicole's face and leant in close until their lips were just touching. Pausing just for a moment, just long enough to make sure the Sergeant was ok with it, the brunette brought their lips crashing together in a sensational kiss./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c837da6a5b6d23e9b1f7d25e8702b97e"However, as soon as the thought entered her mind, as soon as Waverly envisioned her name, there was a knock on the door./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="700fec794cbcc3a499ccf11377e5b154""Haught! Some shit's going down by the wall and we need you! Get your ass out here or I'll hurt your cat!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="bc65debde865e9471ee69c7fdfb456bc"Nicole broke the kiss and rested her forehead on the brunette's, biting her lip. "Earp you wouldn't go near Calamity-Jane if I paid you. Just give me a minute."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="24b0c8ec4f2a6d66772c212e94764261""Dammit, Haught, we don't have a minute."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="4e21f1a4409f9466347ddc6fb8c5aa78"The door burst open, the lock flying into a corner of the living room./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="026606de85a70df51a8fc12ad84e71f1""Waves?" Wynonna was out of breath, her eyebrows knitted together with confusion. "Jeez you guys can't keep away from each other, can you? Anyway, Haught, I need you, like, now."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="2d5be6c6b59d4d0d59e9711695dae633""What's happened, Wynonna?" Nicole stood up and made her uniform look presentable again. "Please tell me it's worth you knocking down my door."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="55ad0ed59443d0029f1ecdfc003eba3e""It's Champ. You know, rodeo-champ Champ?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1403e8917849d8d87341af724fbc0dd6"Waverly stood up suddenly, gasping at the same time. She'd been avoiding him since joining the Outsiders; she didn't quite know how to say no to him in a way that he would get. "Is he ok?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1f2ec252a5441d8288153cb3ff115800"The elder Earp winced, shaking her head. "Not exactly, baby girl."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1c1c79640cdd0d46425a48b688571b01"The trio ran to the other side of the city where Champ's wall post was except he wasn't grinning and making bad jokes from the top of the watchtower; he was hanging off of the side of it, the bright red patches along his torso dripping down his legs and onto the ground. A handful of other guards were keeping the civilians away as best they could although a couple of people were wailing which didn't help with keeping the crowd calm./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="7795283c9ca2ead36490793b220a5d7e"Waverly told herself to remain as calm as possible, knowing whatever had happened would have an explanation. After all, getting worked up wouldn't achieve anything. She walked through the crowd and past the guards, Nicole helping to move people aside, and headed straight for Sergeant Major Nedley who was talking to Dolls and one of the guards./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a02a43f5a43a99ce9178c8e1c18c0c33""What's going on, Dolls?" Nicole asked, her hand snaking its way around the brunette's waist as Waverly started to tear up./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d54a4959a259a585faa643f06ef6d5f7""From what we can tell," the Sergeant explained. "He was shot from a distance but it's impossible. No-one within the city would have the means to kill, as you know, because the guards and Outsiders are the only ones allowed weapons."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f86ffb1884f34ceab4ea666e57617cee"The guard stepped forward, his voice stuttering. "Unless it was a guard that killed him."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0c0d0d54d56ea56f9756a89f2c0c50fd"Waverly suddenly recognised the tear-stained face of the guard. "Perry? Why would you say that?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d225ab1c71a8d8af1ef214d27751977a""Champ wasn't a popular guy, Waverly. To be honest, he was arrogant and annoying. It would surprise me if, with rumours of rations getting low with no cure in sight, someone took the opportunity to-" He couldn't finish the sentence, Waverly's eyes locked onto his, welling up once more."I'm sorry, Waves."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0b0b818ee3449056e9f457396ba437f1""Waves?" Nicole muttered under her breath, letting go of Waverly's waist./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9e40d98ce03b171b51fbdf579d5cf19e"Nedley let out a heavy sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Perry can you get some guards to bring Champ down so we can bury the poor boy. Figuring out who did this can be done at the Outsider HQ."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9105527f02f3d0fb65cb00b3ad6dc49d"Perry saluted the order and shouted to a few of his unit. As they begun climbing the ladders, Wynonna headed to the HQ with Nedley, Dolls not far behind./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e2b4444e0d18c8260b0368f630b23d2a""I'm so sorry about this, Waverly," Nicole mumbled, taking mental notes of the public's reactions as they followed Nedley. "I know you and Champ were friends."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="55343e3343be4874392ed88e4bf12a72"The brunette scoffed at Nicole's choice of words. "Sure we were friends but I can't say I enjoyed spending time with him. You'd think the end of the world would change people's perspective on things, you know? Like how being interested in languages and history doesn't make you boring and why 'turning my brain off' is super offensive when my brain is who I am!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5f21f64c1587aa1e4c0643f199408b48"The was a moment of silence before Waverly mumbled, "Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="fabc3372694d5d1e5db62eb3b28b91b5""It sounds like you've kept that bottled up for a while?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="acf3cd0dfbcea5e511a5a37cbd10d168""You could say that, yeah."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a6e68f7e78472fa112d94889cda1c34a""In that case, I'll need you to make a deal with me."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1b09d28329dc3c2b703ccd10675fca5c"Waverly stopped walking and looked up at the redheaded Sergeant. "What do you mean?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="592f899a8bd7e2a83a2cce10edd9c407""If everyone in the city knows you were friends with Champ, then they might expect you to have a certain opinion. The fact that it sounds like you feel the opposite might startle them."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="421a95e7bb6badb6ed30db99951a25bf""Startle them? What are you trying to say, Nicole? You're worrying me."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f583884e0bec27aa5816184f8c5ce2c0""I don't want guards who don't know you to suggest you might have harmed Champ."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="125d549d25fa73d2350db3615b8c969b""But I wasn't anywhere near him?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="4a5c14d3c5340060cf394ae1e3728fc0"The redhead shrugged, her cheeks flushed pink. "I know that, and you know that," she mumbled./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f684cde5f541e23b721aacd7dbc5fc50"Waverly lead the Sergeant to the side of a building so they were out of sight from the main crowd. She let her hands settle on Nicole's waist, using her index finger to lift the redhead's chin, locking their eyes together for what felt like an age. Taking a breath, the brunette let go of her anxiety for a moment and said, "Are you concerned for my safety, Sergeant Haught?"/p 


	18. Private Gardner

"Waves, what are you doing?" Nicole took the brunette's hands into her own and brought them down from her face.

"I, I don't know. I just thought," her voice trailed off, suddenly seeing the situation from Nicole's perspective; a guard had just been murdered inside the city walls and she was trying to kiss a Sergeant in an alleyway. "I don't know what I thought, sorry."

The redhead ducked her head and pulled Waverly close to her chest, wrapping her arms tight around her, a hand stroking the soft curls on her head. "Don't be sorry, Waves; everyone deals with these things differently." She put her hands either side of the Earp's face and wiped away a couple of tears threatening to roll down Waverly's cheek and smiled. "Let's get to HQ and try to figure this out, yeah?"

Inside Nedley's office, the Outsiders were all gathered and silent; Champ's body had been retrieved from the tower and was in the room across the hall being examined by a team of doctors. Nedley himself stared at the wall opposite his desk, avoiding the empty stare from Wynonna.

"Would someone please inform me as to the reason for our waiting? A man is murdered, lying in the room beside us and we are doing nothing to avenge him. Explain this madness, Nedley, or I swear to you I will use my own methods to hunt and kill whoever dared upset Rosita."

The Sergeant Major glared at the gunslinger and Doc quickly took a step back, adjusting his hat so the brim covered his face.

"Who's Rosita?" Wynonna asked. "Has anyone ever heard of Rosita? Is it another cat? God, I do not need another cat to hate me right now."

Nedley shook his head and held up a hand to the elder Earp. "Wynonna calm yourself down. We're waiting for an eyewitness to turn up."

Dolls took a step forward, leaning close to Nedley, and whispered, "But there weren't any witnesses? A woman from Shorty's noticed the body but he was the only one on guard duty for that sector?"

"That's what I thought too, Xavier, but apparently not."

There was a knock on the door and the gang jumped, Wynonna opening the door dramatically. On the other side was a woman the same height as the older Earp with bright red hair to envy that under Nicole's freshly adjusted cap. The military uniform she was wearing, however, looked nothing like the one Perry wore. The sleeves were rolled up to her elbows, a faint sprinkling of glitter on the cuffs. The trousers had been pinned back or tailored or something to make them fit the curve of her legs perfectly and the clunky boots shone in the stark white light with a hint of pink. As for the cap all guards wore, hers was nowhere to be seen, her hair in a tight bun atop her head.

"Wynonna!" The glitzy guard threw her arms around the elder Earp before giving a beaming smile to the rest of the room. "Nice to meet all you epic bitches," she leant in close to Wynonna and whispered, "By the way, we need to catch up, girl," before looking to the rest of the group. "But I'm here to see the Sergeant Major. Any idea where he is?"

Nedley cleared his throat and the woman jumped into attention, making Wynonna giggling a little.

"Private Gardner, you may stand at ease. Please take a seat and tell us what you saw regarding Corporal Hardy's death. You're in a safe space here."

Wynonna let out a burst of laughter before quickly covering her mouth. "Sorry, I forgot Champ had a surname. He was always just Champ, you know? Anyway, sorry again. I'll shut up now."

The Private sat down in the far corner of the room, looking up and down the team as if inspecting them and completely judging what they were wearing. Waverly looked down at what she had on and grimaced; military-grade boots, sparkly leggings and a dirty blue puffer coat wasn't the best look but at least the boots meant her wellies didn't get covered in mud and that was always a bonus.

"If I'm in a safe space," the woman said, putting one leg behind the other as she sat, almost like she were a royal. "Then can we all use first names?"

The Sergeant Major's facial expression remained emotionless.

"Ok then," she said, "Can you all use my first name? It's Mercedes, by the way, Mercedes Gardner."

"Sure, Mercedes," Nicole said, aware of Waverly's shaking hand in her grip. "Just tell us what you saw in as much detail as you can; anything you say could help us find Champ's killer."

"Well, I was walking by the wall," Mercedes said slowly, Dolls hurriedly making notes. "And he was always so sweet and charming, so I waved to him up in the tower and bang. He got shot. It was super messy and I'm pretty sure some of the blood got in my hair but I managed to get a shower so fingers crossed it's all good."

Nicole's jaw hung open, her eyebrows slowly growing angular with frustration. "A Corporal, your superior, was shot and your first thought was to have a shower?"

"Well yeah; blood stains you know. Just because I have red hair doesn't mean that shade of red belongs. I would have thought you'd known that?"

Waverly took a step forward, intercepting Nicole as the redhead appeared to make a beeline for the Private. "Nicole," the brunette said in a hushed voice. "Don't let someone like her get the better of you. She's only a Private for a reason."

"You ok, Haught-stuff?" Wynonna walked over to the Sergeant and put a hand on her shoulder. "If you need some air, I can take it from here; I know Mercedes."

The redhead bit her lip but nodded after looking into Waverly's eyes. The brunette led her out of the room, only realising after they'd left that they'd been holding hands the entire time. At least it wasn't too obvious like if-

As soon as the door closed, Nicole spun Waverly around so the brunette's back was against the wall, their foreheads touching. The redhead was biting her lip, driving Waverly crazy although she wasn't quite sure what to do; Nicole was either about to punch something multiple times or kiss her in a way that she'd lose all sense of time in a heavenly plane of existence. The brunette closed her eyes as Nicole took a step closer, their bodies touching, but not in a way that Waverly was craving. She could feel the redhead's breath on her lips but that was it.

Tentatively, Waverly opened her eyes to see Nicole staring right back at her. "Nicole?"

The Sergeant stood up and adjusted her cap, almost as if nothing had happened for a moment. "Not here," she mumbled. "Not while Champ is in there." The redhead looked at the doorway behind them; it was only covered with a cloth, doors being a rare thing to come across in derelict buildings, the doctor's hushed voices just about audible over the clanking metal of the armoury along the corridor.

Nicole held out her hand and the brunette took it. "Where are we going?" Waverly wasn't quite sure what to make of the look in the Sergeant's eyes but it sent a chill down her spine.

"Somewhere we won't be disturbed."


	19. Tater-Haught

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="7e0ca8663ec5650bc17e6ce0e974d5df"Wynonna took the chair from beside Nedley's desk, spun it around, and sat down. "Spill the beans, Mercedes. What did you see?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="7303224b9d647ff50d3dc2a8657b764c""Wynonna," Nedley chimed in. "This isn't an interrogation, it's a discussion."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="2510f9968a57e232100851e3a3e99416""Yeah, I knew that," the brunette said, shuffling the chair to the side of the room, still glaring at the Private. "But still, tell us what happened."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="df6aa44d5648370ab3781031a49bdc20"Mercedes rolled her eyes. "I already did? There was a bang, he fell over the side and blood got in my hair. Total disaster; I was planning on going out tonight but I can't be seen with my hair like this."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6ddd8c041670328f49e2c4f9498be348""I do find in times such as these that the value of a story lies in the details." Doc took a step forward and knelt in front of Mercedes, holding his hat in front of his chest. "Why not think more about the noises you heard or even the way he fell?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8e6dc62e7916dfa60f7815303697bae9"The Private closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh before pouting. "I mean, I could smell dirt and just gross things in general. He didn't fall off the tower at first," she said, her voice fading to silence for a moment. "He fell backwards and then went over the side. Yeah, that's right; he was looking over the city wall and then as he waved back to me, he fell back, like the shot came from the other side of the wall."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c5a65a04e939bd58fd2f4b16856866ee"Dolls stopped writing and clicked his pen, the sound echoing in the concrete room. "Wait, he fell backwards?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="32fbc8a8395c45873b09eca9120f9d03""Yep."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3eee43de7dfd2fd8f9ff6c9d5d4f552e"Silence consumed the room as no-one dared to even look up from the floor./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a1af901614be2c8465f8ac1812b1b7e7""Is that a bad thing?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f92a893dbd69e651c77a6eb0b528c674"The Sergeant Major got up and opened the door. "You're dismissed, Private Gardner. Thank you for your time."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8becabbfeab49d90c5081cb2cb7aa333""Oh, ok. Wynonna I'll see you at Shorty's later, yeah?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8c8a766a0fecaa482365c0ba7f455207"The elder Earp nodded slowly and gave Mercedes a half-smile. Even she was concerned./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a254c11fa43f455bbd7e1c21f5f32cac""Well," Nedley said as he sat back down at his desk. "At least this means we don't have to interview the entirety of the guard."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="b71b0dee75c3e9654b90976bc177bf06"Dolls' eyebrows jumped. "Sorry, Sergeant Major, but we do."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="14c4312d85e7b093fde6bb3c5ad3d73c""I think numbnuts is right for once, Sir," Wynonna said, shuffling her chair around, the scraping sound causing everyone to wince. "If we don't interrogate, sorry, interview the obvious suspects then the public are going to wonder why. Won't that lead to, like, riots or something?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="78e858943fa40996cb8d58266389a62a""Dammit Wynonna," Nedley mumbled, his head in his hands. "I hadn't thought of that. I'm getting too old for this crap."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a8a4c74560ce5b088891136368552a4c""Sir, if I may?" Dolls stood up and looked from Wynonna and Doc to the Sergeant Major. "You could conduct interviews as a public facade while myself and Sergeant Haught lead the team outside for an extended time frame and gather any evidence we can find."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d9436ac595272f203643d322122d9ffe""That sounds awfully risky, Xavier. I'm not sure I can let you all out there for any longer than the usual eight hours."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5f2fac5cee44b9dde8dc53c2a38e06bc""Ok but think about it Sir, just humour me; the longer we're out there, the more we can concentrate on gathering intel and, at the very least, we can gather a bunch more rations. We could take a couple of guards with us for extra safety. With the public wondering who in the guard killed Champ as well as your interviews, there won't be too many eyes on my team."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9c54dc95cef36dc90ae78261b1155844"Nedley groaned and ran his hands through his remaining hair. "Alright, fine. You have no more than three days and you have to take extra personnel. I can maybe spare you one Corporal but the others have to be Privates, ok? And you'll all take the cleanest weapons as well as bonus rations on top of your bonus rations, no arguments. You lot are my best people and I can't afford to lose you."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f7d84e75e030b3cf89c4dd481c566af4"Dolls threw his fist into the air, quickly retracting it a second later. "Uh, thanks, Sir. We won't let you down."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ce98299e5cdb4e94d2a5a08a8393da62""Sure, just go and find the people you need. You may as well go now while there's still chaos; there'll be fewer questions."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e8941aaf8b1830dd9c532c77f025d3fb"The Sergeant saluted, his bright white teeth shining through in a wide grin./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="505c3e5a40f89810ab10ee10913bf7c1""Teacher's pet much? Jeez, come on Dolls; we've got a murderer to kill. Ooo! Double murder. Murdering the murderer. I like it. Dude, move it." Wynonna pushed Dolls towards the door, yanking Doc along by the cuff of his sleeve, not forgetting to give a nod to the Sergeant Major on their way out./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8ea9ed8c6566fd9bc3ebb837c6a3cc7c""Oh wait," she said, still holding onto Doc and Dolls. "Where are tater-Haught and Waverly?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="509ec8965f312335e9ff1354dab4cfa9"Three floors below Nedley's office, on a bench in the corner of the changing rooms, lay Waverly. She couldn't remember ever feeling so content; she had Nicole's arms wrapped tight around her, the Sergeant's shirt acting like a blanket barrier against the chill in the air. The brunette smiled to herself as she felt a wave of humidity wash over her. The shower had helped warm things up./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c967057d01224149a3d5cdaf0f8dac59""What are you thinking about?" Nicole's voice was husky, leaving a trail of kisses along Waverly's neck./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="fc99deb135c3611e1b62be11dab9bd02""I'm not sure I have the ability to think about anything right now," Waverly mumbled. Her grin was starting to hurt but there was no way she was going to stop smiling any time soon./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1c9fba04c6b668e35810f9347c3da444""Not even me?" The redhead shifted slightly so their faces were mere centimetres apart. The look in her eye alone was enough to send chills down Waverly's spine./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="53a8d1dd5b13ec3b4479fd45b813ae38""Ok fine," the brunette said, dragging out the words. "It's hard not to think about you." She placed a soft kiss on the redhead's lips, her hand finding the side of her face. Flashbacks to the last twenty minutes ran through Waverly's mind before pulling away, gasping for breath./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="844d55f0be01a908d8c1b504ca450413""It's probably time to go back upstairs," she mumbled, her eyes flicking from the mischievous glint in Nicole's eyes to the way she was biting her lip./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d3f529625ff7dd83164c36ca4369b7b7""Yeah, you're probably right," the redhead said slowly, running a finger along Waverly's arm. "Hopefully that Private isn't coming with us as a witness."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9026d7deecdbdf5296892dfbe46dd189""What? Why would she?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c989d3fc2a9b1119ce9608b45f768e24""Well if she was the only witness to Champ's murder, then we'll probably need her to identify the killer."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="014d0a1e538f35168c63db8c2d8a455f""Oh, I didn't realise that. It makes sense though. Are you going to be ok with that?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="2965ee0172bdf452e9b38b48059449ee"Nicole's eyebrows knitted together. "Why wouldn't I be? A job has to be done so whether I like her or not is irrelevant."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f3f450e9a08019a21648a74fbe968476""Sorry," the brunette muttered. "I just wanted to make sure you were ok. She upset you and that," she entwined their fingers together, stroking the back of Nicole's hand with her thumb. "Upset me. I really really like you."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0d0bd7184a08f71ab487ef932d8a8982"The redhead smiled and brought their lips together for another bittersweet moment. "I like you too."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1df9194fcb0e4d353e4919619c9d7acd"Suddenly a crackle filled the room, bouncing around off of the tiled walls and concrete floor./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="cda107ff6e1520a1ef476d5b1e2515b5""Angel pants I know you're there," came the all-too-familiar sound of the elder Earp./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="834204cb0ff25c89a6a9653df6d51b98""Tha-that's your radio," Waverly said quietly, pointing to the Sergeant's trousers which were on another bench on the far side of the changing room. "She knows we're together."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9ee8275f9e1189282053be53e55eadb6""We left together, Waves. Try not to worry; no-one comes down here so your sister has no way of finding out about us. If you want to keep it that way for now, then we will."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="553786ba6219aade6b47ccbc09a15076""What did I do to deserve you?" The brunette looked into the Sergeant's eyes and found herself getting lost in them. Time always felt slow in the city. An hour felt like days and weeks felt like years. Working at Shorty's had helped pass the time, of course. Even being an Outside helped to speed up the clock hand but time never passed as quickly as when her heart was racing with Nicole by her side. Unfortunately, it worked against them./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e47132e60ed9a23daa7e6e787fe1551c""I think it's the other way around," Nicole said, leaning in for yet another kiss. "But we really should get going."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="41cb3666eed4c3b003507df686d0ddf1"The radio crackled again. "Dammit Haught I don't want to know what you're doing to my sister but I swear I'll find you somehow and drag your- Dolls get-"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="2e32735f890764ec72d835a528ab173b"Waverly couldn't help but giggle, before looking around the room to try and locate her clothes. As she spied her bra hanging from one of the lockers beside the shower room, it was fair to say that she hadn't thought about getting dressed at the time she'd taken everything off. She made a note to herself to do so in the future, especially when there was the unreliability of the zombie apocalypse to contend with./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="61d3744a974d4a86d118ff1d9f2c5f65""Met us in the armoury as soon as you can," Dolls' voice said over the radio. "And please remember your beret, Haught; it's uniform just like having your hair up is."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="32b9c16818782a17018f483db588fbb9"Nicole rolled her eyes. "It's alright for him; he doesn't have any hair."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="eb521c15a7d0b4e988ac9596eed344f6""Why don't you get it cut?" The brunette put on her leggings and picked her coat up from the floor. "If you hate having it tied up so much?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="2b0c56ea8a30f772be8d5ef893bdba5b""That's not a bad idea," the redhead said, grinning as she walked over to Waverly and pulled her in for a long, heated kiss./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; caret-color: #555555; color: #555555;" data-p-id="43df662c75663df935d041ff519e8601"The radio crackled once more, splitting the pair apart. "Now, Haught or I'll send Wynonna to find you."/p 


	20. Recon Mission Part 1

The world seemed dead outside of the wall. Well. More dead than usual. Waverly tightened her grip on her shotgun and looked over her shoulder at the four new members of their team. Three Privates and a Corporal. One of the Privates was Mercedes to keep her from talking to anyone who listened while the investigation took place, but the Corporal was Perry so that, at least, wasn't too bad.

Perry was standing close to Mercedes, no doubt under instruction from Dolls to keep a close eye on her. She was given a pistol before they'd left but didn't show any interest in using it. If Waverly was being honest with herself, it worried her that the Private was acting so careless with her life. Didn't she want to find Champ's killer? Find the cure, even?

"Can we keep up the pace, please? We have a very small amount of time and a lot of ground to cover." Dolls shouted from the front of the group, not turning around. Wynonna was by his side with Doc not far behind.

"You ok there Waves?" Nicole had stopped walking with Doc to be beside the brunette instead, entwining their fingers. "You look worried."

The brunette bit her lip and looked over her shoulder again. "Who are the other two Privates again? I can't remember their names."

The Sergeant closed her eyes for a second and smiled. "I think it was Private Bouillon and," she paused, muttering something under her breath. "The other one was a fancy-sounding name. Wasn't it van something?"

"Van Tilburg?"

"Yeah, that was it!"

Waverly nodded slowly. "Do you know where they were posted before this?"

"Wall detail. I'm not sure they've seen live action outside though."

"Oh, ok."

"Waves?"

The brunette looked up at Nicole and half-smiled. "Yeah?"

"Dolls wouldn't have chosen them if they couldn't do the job. If I remember rightly, I think he said they'd been deployed here when the infection first started as part of a worldwide aid relief program."

"Wait, so they're actually military?"

Nicole laughed and quickly kissed the brunette's forehead. "I think Bouillon was Navy but van Tilburg was army, yeah. My point is, you're safe with them, with us."

"Three days out here is just a long time, I guess. I know you guys, obviously, but," Waverly's voice trailed off.

"I know what you mean," the Sergeant said. "It's hard to adjust to new members in a team. Out here though, we need all the people we can get. I've got a horrible feeling that medi-tent is part of the investigation."

"Why? We didn't even go in there? We just got the guns from the tent next to it."

Nicole nodded. "Exactly. There were guns next to the medical centre so who's to say someone else didn't have access to them? If the shot came from this side of the wall, then there must be others out here."

Dolls turned around and stopped walking, Wynonna almost walking into him. "Guys, we'll regroup here and spread out for a ration scout. Stay in your groups. Wynonna and Doc are with me over here, Sergeant Nicole and Waverly can go over there, and Perry you can lead the Privates to the other side. We'll scout for ten minutes and meet back here. Do not engage unless danger is imminent and radio for help immediately. If you spot a herd, do not go near it. Either circle round or come back here, but still radio it in. We need to know the locations of everyone and everything."

A loud groan suddenly came from the back of the group, everyone slowly turning around to see who it was coming from.

"Oh my god, Dolls, we get it. Now let's go shopping, ok? I'd love to find some new shoes."

Perry nudged Mercedes not-so-lightly and she scoffed. "Well, that's just rude."

Inside an abandoned store, Wynonna passed her hand along the remaining tins of food, smiling as they fell off the shelves one-by-one with a loud bang.

"I must insist you stop that racket as I fear the undead will hear it and come running." Doc glared at her from beneath the rim of his hat, the elder Earp doing her best not to laugh.

"Sorry, Doc, I'm just bored. Three days is a long time to be picking up," she looked at one of the tins she'd been about to knock off. "Edamame beans? What the hell?" She shrugged and stuffed the tin into her bag. "They sound healthy so Waves might like them."

"I understand your frustration, believe me, but still there is a young man lying murdered in out headquarters with no killer yet found. It is our duty, Wynonna, to see his death was not in vain."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just saying; Haught wouldn't let me take a third flask so I have limited whiskey."

Dolls stopped walking in front of them and let out a heavy sigh. "Wynonna, can you be serious just this one time?"

"Dude, I'm nothing but serious, like, all the time. Nedley wouldn't let me out here otherwise."

"Except this is more important than edamame beans."

Wynonna rolled her eyes and groaned. "Really? You're both going to lecture me about beans?"

Dolls suddenly held up a hand and crouched.

"What is it, Sergeant?" Doc whispered, dragging Wynonna down into a crouch by her sleeve.

"It's a huge group," the sergeant slowly reached for his pistol, Wynonna and Doc doing the same, their eyes wide and hearts pounding. "Of beans!"

Wynonna fell backwards from her crouching position with a bump and let out a growl. "Dolls! You dumbass dipshit. I swear to God if you do that again I'll turn you into a lizard or something. Jeez." She stood up and brushed herself off, giving a stone-cold glare to the gunslinger as well as the Sergeant.

"That just shows how unfocused you are, Earp. Eyes on the prize and not on finding healthy tinned beans for your sister."

Meanwhile, Waverly was halfway up a tree, convinced she'd be able to find something in the tree house at the top of the large oak.

"If you're lucky you'll find some sweets, Waves, but I don't think there would be anything like that left in a kid's treehouse."

The shorter woman shifted her footing, still balancing on Nicole's shoulders as she reached for a branch above her head. "That might be the case, but a positive mental attitude never hurt anybody, right? So I'm hoping I'll find some rope or radios up here. If only I could reach..."

Waverly tried to bounce up off of the Sergeant's shoulders, only to find herself sliding down the trunk of the tree and into Nicole's arms.

"I might have misjudged how far away the branch was," she said sheepishly.

The redhead laughed a little, the moment seemingly paused as Waverly realised that Nicole's eyes had small flecks of green in them.

"One more try?"

"Waves..."

"Please? I was so close that time, I really did almost reach."

"I'm not sure it's a good idea; we need to be heading back soon and there probably won't be much up there." Nicole was trying to be firm with the brunette, putting on her Sergeant's voice, but Earp girl's smile always broke her facade.

"Ok," she said, putting the brunette down. "One more try but after this, we have to be heading back."

Waverly let out a squeal of excitement and waited for the Sergeant to give her a leg up onto her shoulders. A scramble up the tall redhead and Waverly was stood firmly on her shoulders, the Sergeant holding onto her calves so she wouldn't fall. As she reached up to grab hold of the branch above her head, the brunette looked down and her stomach dropped; the sight of Nicole's flexed upper body always had an effect on her. She blinked back into reality and stretched her arm as far as it would go, suddenly grabbing hold of the branch.

"I've got it!"

"Great, Waves," Nicole said through gritted teeth, not wanting Waverly to feel like she was a burden on her ever-aching shoulders. "Do you think you can pull yourself up?"

The brunette grinned and took hold of the branch with her other hand. What the Sergeant didn't know was that she'd been working out with Perry's help for situations just like this. Waverly wasn't one to show off or anything, but she was still proud of her abs. In a single motion, she pulled herself up off of the redhead's shoulders and sat on the branch.

"You ok up there Waves?"

"Yep, I can climb up to the treehouse from here. It doesn't look nearly as far away now."

"Well keep on going then; unfortunately we're still running out of time."

Waverly scrambled up the rest of the smaller branches and climbed into the treehouse. The building itself was pretty simple with a few planks of wood making up the floor, a wooden pallet or two for the sides and then a sheet of plastic making up a roof. In one corner there were some crates and plastic tubs, the lids of which still looked firmly closed.

The brunette opened one up and grinned at the sight of rope, walkie-talkies and climbing clips.

"Hey, Nicole! I've got some rope here so I'll throw it down to you," she said, slowly unlooping the roll of rope around the crook of her arm. "Just watch out; I don't want to hit you in the face with it or anything."

Just as Waverly made her way to the edge of the treehouse flooring, the redhead popped her head up, her cheeks flushed red.

"Wait, what?" Waverly slumped onto the floor and dropped the rope.

"Sorry, Waves. There was just no way I was going to risk you coming up here alone, not after a zombie attacked you in that attic."


End file.
